Universities Composite Team

Project Description

Programme Outline

Please find details of our new national, supplementary performance training programme for university student taekwondo athletes, comprising a national, inter-university composite training team. This British Student Taekwondo Federation programme is delivered in partnership with British Taekwondo.

The programme includes bi-monthly training sessions hosted at the GB National Taekwondo Centre, Manchester, focusing on development of existing performance athletes, aspiring performance athletes and all future BUCS EUSA European Universities Games qualifiers.

Two branches of the programme (training within the same venue but with seperate coaching staff) will first be available in both taekwondo disciplines currently contested in the EUSA European Universities Games: WT rules sparring (Olympic sparring) and Kukkiwon Poomsae (forms). Places within the programme are limited to athletes qualifying directly (matching BUCS EUSA Games qualification boundaries) and a limited number of athlete nominations by institutions.

Please note that this programme does not replace our existing standalone fightcamps and other training courses, which remain open all student athletes and are available in all disciplines of taekwondo during term times, but is an additional programme designed specifically for performance and aspiring athletes.

Athlete’s applications must be made via the appropriate member of staff from their athletic union/ university sport department using the online registration form provided to that staff member.

Personal Student Athlete Development – The training programme offers a unique opportunity for regular training with other student athletes of a similar level of ability and commitment – often unavailable on a day-to-day basis for aspiring athletes within university clubs of 10s of athletes – receiving instruction from elite coaching staff at the national training centre in Manchester.

University Taekwondo Club Development – It is hoped that the programme will not only benefit the individual athletes, but also their home institution’s clubs as they take back new training methods and mindsets. Combining places by both qualification and selection, every institution and club has the opportunity to engage with the programme.

High Performance Sparring Coaching – Sparring coaching will be provided by GB national team, development programme and development pathway talent club coaches. Segments of the universities sessions may be further supported by the attendance of national team and GB national development pathway athletes.

High Performance Poomsae Coaching – Poomsae coaching will be provided by British Taekwondo national team coaches. Note that British Taekwondo have significantly updated the structure of the national Poomsae team in recent years, with potential opportunities for national team progression and for the first time modest financial support for Poomsae athletes progressing to international events.

EUSA Composite Team Training – As the majority of composite team members will be comprised of BUCS EUSA Games qualifiers, the programme serves an important role in preparing the composite team members to represent their institutions at the Games, while supporting further post-Games development of the same group of athletes for the remainder of that year.

GB Taekwondo National Team Talent Identification Opportunity – The GB National Team Coaching and dedicated Talent ID staff plan to attend a number of the training sessions, allowing the programme to fulfill a talent identification path in addition to the GB taekwondo talent scouts who already attend our Student National Championship Series tournaments in this role.

Enrolling in the Programme – There are two methods by which student athletes may do so:

Qualification: Student athletes are automatically eligible to enroll if they achieve the equivalent of BUCS EUSA qualification at the Student National Taekwondo Championship Series Finals; the criteria is dependant on medal position and division size as described on our EUSA information page.

Nomination: Up to two student athletes, 1 male and 1 female, may be nominated by each institution of our members clubs to enroll in the programme. We recommend this selection is made by consultation between the university performance officer, club captain and club coach. The athletes may be nominated in either the sparring or poomsae branch of the programme. Note that there is no restriction on grade and any suitably dedicated individual may be nominated, but as with all athletes participating they must must be dedicated, able, and aware that the level of the training will be typical of a development programme.

For example, an institution with a member club that has 1 automatic qualifier may register a total of 3 athletes: the 1 qualifying athlete (in the discipline qualified for) and up to 2 nominated athletes (1 male and 1 female, each in either discipline).

All athletes, both qualifiers and nominations, committing to a place on the programme must apply via the appropriate member of staff from their athletic union/ university sport department, using the online registration form provided to that staff member, by no later than Thursday 14th June, 2018.

Eligibility outline – Student athletes must meet all of the following eligibility criteria:

The athlete must be a current student, or be graduating within 12 months of the Student National Taekwondo Championships Series Finals at which they qualified to participate, and otherwise meet all BUCS eligibility criteria.

Each nominated athlete’s university club must be a member of their Students’ Union/ sport department, and the British Student Taekwondo Federation for athlete insurance purposes (NB BSTF club membership is enrolled at the time of entry to the Student National Taekwondo Championships Series Finals, therefore all clubs which participated in the Finals are already current members)

The athlete must commit to their place with the expectation of attending a minimum of 50% of the composite team’s training sessions for the length of the programme (6 sessions)

Amazon Smile is a hassle-free way for you to support student taekwondo every time you shop, at no cost to you! Simply click this link to activate it and Amazon will donate an amount equal to .5% of your net purchases to your selected charity 🙂